Since lion heads are supposed to "test" and show how skillful a kungfu man is and is always a great way for income for a school, I was wondering if any of you guys out there have had any experience with a lion head.

Also, this thought has always kind of lingered in my head. Ever since I seen the inside (and used one) of a lion head, I can quickly realize how much "kungfu"/skill is needed to really really operate it well (like Wong Fei Hung good, haha). Question is, do you think that a lion head can test how good martial artists from other arts beside kungfu?? (karate, TKD, muay thai, etc.)

IExcalibui2,Can you describe how the lion head is used? What kungfu skills or techniques do you find yourself using when operating the lion head?Personally I don't see how the lion head can test ones martial skill. Seeing as how you have used one, perhaps you could provide some insight?

The lion head is basically a dome over you head with 2 bars on the bottom for you to hold. 1 hand is held onto the mouth to keep it closed while the other hand is on the bar to control the lion. You can simply just wiggle the head around but inorder to twist the head this way or make it blink or a combination of the 2 you sometimes have to let go of the bar and maybe use your elbow or shoulder, even your head. So there is alot of arm work inside the head that would resemble kungfu techniques (to me it reminds me of Wing Chun since your arms are so close together).

Also the head weighs a good 15, 20 pounds so moving that thing around will eventually get you tired. And both the head and the butt requires strong stance work. If you stance is weak you wont have any balance or anything, especially the tail if he is required to carry the head guy in anyway (on his lap, on his shoulders, just lifting him, etc). The tail is pretty hard as well since hes always bent over, which is a pain for the lower back. And his stances need to be extra strong to support the head man including the weight of the head. Without the strong base, the cool tricks wouldnt be possible.

lionsif you go to this link and then to "quality production" at the top and just scroll down to the very bottom you'll see what it looks like inside.

though lions were originally used for celebrations and what now, schools began to adopt them into their curriculum because it was a great way to make money and publicize their schools, especially during Chinese New Years. Also it was quite logical, after all many of the techniques and stances were of kungfu origin.

But of course if one school has it then all schools will have it. After some time, people began to judge a school's skill from their lion dance. After all the better your stance work and strength the better and faster you can operate the lion. So the lion dance became a symbol of the school. You hafta be good to be under the lion, otherwise you'll just get everyone embarrassed. Since this became a big representative of the school, schools began to practice more and more with it to showcase their kungfu.

The lion dance was used for a long time as a way of “fighting” other schools without fighting. Lions would compete against each other, and schools would pride themselves on their lion dancing skill. It takes a large amount of skill (coordination, timing, rhythm, power, speed) to be good at lion dancing. I have done it many times (I am not that good though). It was said that if you had a good lion dancing team you had allot of students. This isn't really the case in the western world. Everyone has lion dancing, and it doesn't really hold the level it used to be. there are two major style of (southern) lion dancing. Its pretty cool if you find someone who is really good at it, and you can learn. Wing Chun (IP Man) doesn't have a lion dance in the style. I would like to learn it again one day and add it to my skills.

thnks monji for the additionyea many of tricks and moves for the lion can also be attacks geared towards other lions when they are in a fight, designed to knock the other lion down. Tons of relflexes are needed, especially the tail man since he has to follow the steps of the head. And like mentioned above, it takes lots of coordination, rhythm, stamina, strength, and a whole bunch of other stuff, heheh.

Yea lion dancing now in modern times no longer holds such a important role in Kungfu other than the role to bring in additional money to the school and to be used and publicized during celebrations and such.

And yes traditionally Wing Chun doesnt really have lion dancing since they do not practice horse stance and crane stances and such but many schools still do lion dancing to get some money. Its a great way to raise money. And if you are good then more people would ask for shows and demonstrations throughout the year.

Another dancing animal that is similar to the Lion would be the Unicorn, mostly used by the Hakka Chinese people. And the Kungfu arts mostly associated with it would be of Hakka origin too, for example Southern Praying Mantis (my territory) though I have never operated or seen what the inside of the Unicorn looks like. It only takes 1 person to operate, making it significantly easier to dance with than a lion. Other than that I do not know too much about it.

For those not familiar with it, here are a few tips for judging a good / proper dance. Like all dances, there are rules.

--- obviously there must be proper coordination between the moves and the music and certain beats of the drum means certain steps are used; e.g. a strong fast beat signifies that the head is lifted high up and a slow rythmic one, a crouch or a walk;

--- whenever the head is lifted, the feet must be either together or a unicorn step (one leg crossed over the other with the knees straight) and when the head is down, either a horse, forward or a walking stance;

--- at all times, especially when the head is lifted, the head dancer's face must remain hidden;therefore you need a strong back and arms to keep the head slightly forward (arms almost straight) and at an angle, with the fingers controlling the flapping of the jaw, pulling the strings for the eyes and the ears at the correct point in time with the music and the story you are telling; and all the time not missing the rythm or beat and keeping the lion 'alive' and lively with animalistic energy;

--- the eyes blink and the ears twitch only when the head is down or the lion is 'walking' and most important of all, the jaw must be closed when the head is lifted; dropped immediately and starts flapping when the head comes down;

--- sometimes to get at the money, certain obstacles with traditional, auspicious meanings are placed in the lion's way -- like needing to climb a pole, cutting up a basket full of live craps, peel some oranges or coconuts and arranging the peel/husk in auspicious chinese characters befitting the occasion, break bricks, flower pots (anything you can come up with, within reason of course) so you need to carry a knife or scissors in the head AND do all this while performing the dance following all the rules, not missing the beat and keeping it entertaining --- like using body / facial language to express surprise, shock, disgust, anger, happiness, sadness etc. and making sure the head and tail do not bump into each other with the tailman flapping the body to indicate slow breathing or panting of the lion while being in a half crouch all the time.

After copious deposits of sweat by many generations of dancers, the inside of the head and the cloth body smells exactly like a sweaty lion.

There are various traditional scenarious to look out for at the beginning of the dance -- like a waking lion, lion coming out of a cave, lion testing the waters of a river (deciding whether to cross or not) looking for food and finding, tasting it, eating it and spitting out the husk, peel or skin.

Finally always look for good strong stances, crisp footwork, for without it, the lion is just dead.

well now that we're all kinda acquainted with the art of lion dancing, back to my original question. Since lion dancing does in a way test your skills in kungfu, is it possible that it could test the skills of a person from a different MA??